


calm it, tiger

by ikonisch (discordinparadise)



Series: ikonimals [2]
Category: iKON (Korea Band)
Genre: Hybrids, M/M, Sweetness, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings, Yes you read that right, but it's aaaaaaall good, gets the tiniest bit sad at parts ):, hanbin's the biggest sweetheart, jinhwan's a cute b o s s, jinhwan's pov, no-one should ever make him sad, soft fluff, tiger hybrids, tigerbin y'all, who deserves everything
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-07
Updated: 2019-04-07
Packaged: 2020-01-06 12:47:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18388739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/discordinparadise/pseuds/ikonisch
Summary: "I've always wondered what coffee tastes like," Hanbin mumbled and Jinhwan grinned."That'll be one of the first things, then.""And...um, something called black forest cake? Does it have actual trees in it?!"Jinhwan had to bite his lip to hold back a noise at the cuteness. "No, no, they don't. I think it came from a region that had a forest called the Black Forest. In Germany or Norway, I don't know."Hanbin's ears drooped a little and Jinhwan wanted to cry. "Ah...okay."





	calm it, tiger

**Author's Note:**

  * For [13cmKONIC](https://archiveofourown.org/users/13cmKONIC/gifts).



It was two am when Jinhwan felt something warm and fuzzy brushing across his feet and he scrunched his face a little, sleepily turning over to the side as if that would make it stop. But it didn't. It was gentle, rhythmic brushing that at any other time would be soothing but right now Jinhwan was annoyed for being woken up and more cranky that he had been woken up at  _two_   _fucking_   _am_. "Hanbin."

No answer but the brushing stopped which made Jinhwan fester silently, squeezing his eyes shut even more. "I know you're awake."

"I didn't think  _you_  were..." a small voice whispered and Jinhwan furrowed his eyebrows.

"What?"

"Nothing."

Jinhwan sighed, slowly falling onto his back again, looking up at the pitch black ceiling hazily once he blinked his eyes open and immediately regretted it. Now it was going to be one hundred percent more difficult to go back to sleep. And Hanbin was in human form. At two am. Dear God, what was going on...

"Come here, at least, you annoying thing."

Once upon a time Hanbin used to be so much more hesitant, careful hands, so worried about where any of him would go – now not so much, just pushing upwards so his head burst out of the bed right next to Jinhwan's, smiling brightly and Jinhwan's wearily adjusting eyes managed to catch it a little. "What's wrong now?"

"Nothing's wrong. I'm really happy," Hanbin denied, making his tail wag on command and Jinhwan sighed, draping a lazy arm over Hanbin's waist because he had experienced the hybrid falling off the bed far too many times. Hanbin making his tail wag was the exact same concept as a fake smile. Jinhwan knew the difference because he knew Hanbin and also come  _on_ , cats didn't wag their tails, even big ones. Hanbin wasn't going to make Jinhwan feel better by changing identity to a dog. 

Jiwon had probably taught him, now that Jinhwan thought about it.

"Why do you like sleeping at my stinky feet?"

"I wasn't in human form when I  _first_  came here. It happened while I was sleeping and I don't know why," Hanbin muttered, hugging himself and Jinhwan pulled him closer too. "Now I can't go to sleep. Or turn back."

"That? I thought we'd fixed it by now..."

"Me too."

"You sure you're not hungry? Sick?" Jinhwan asked softly, brushing away Hanbin's hair and the younger nodded morosely before blinking, thinking, then shaking his head. "No?"

"Lonely..."

Jinhwan raised an eyebrow. "Ain't that rich coming from someone who complained every night we slept together? You got your own bed, be happy."

"I don't like the change," Hanbin murmured, sounding a little bit annoyed at himself for thinking that and Jinhwan smiled gently. After months of hearing, 'stop kicking me!', 'you breathe too loud!', 'you take up too much of the bed!', this was quite something, and Jinhwan knew that he was never actually a bad sleeping partner but more that Hanbin wasn't used to sleeping with someone so he tried to make himself think that he hated it, that it wasn't what he wanted. Jinhwan understood. But it always made him smile when they'd settle eventually with Hanbin curled into him, and Jinhwan would hug him tight.

Jinhwan really missed it too, but he had decided to be quiet about it if sleeping separately was what Hanbin really wanted. Though this was definitely saying otherwise.

"Then what?" Jinhwan challenged, pressing up closer but Hanbin ruined the teasing atmosphere Jinhwan was trying to create by resting his head on Jinhwan's shoulder, fluffy hair tickling his chin, and Jinhwan decided to give up. "You wanna stay?"

"It's just that I've got too used to it now."

"Wow. You're really going with that."

"Shut up."

"You love me, admit it. I'm the most perfect you'll find."

"Perfect what?"

"Hm..." Jinhwan lifted an arm to gesture to the bed but immediately put it back when Hanbin whined, making a laugh bubble up his throat as he kissed Hanbin's cheek, which made Hanbin whine a lot quieter. "Needy baby."

"It's been five nights, hold me," Hanbin complained shamelessly, having dropped all his dignity by this point and Jinhwan grinned harder than he thought he could at such a time as he strengthened his hold, laying trails of soft kisses up Hanbin's jaw because that was always something that made him sleepy. He wasn't quite sure when or how he had found that out but Hanbin's head dropped further, cuddling into Jinhwan more as his arms finally reached out to curl around the elder. "Warm..."

Jinhwan winced when one of Hanbin's cat ears poked his eye and he stroked it gently to calm it down so it wouldn't flop about. Hanbin hummed in contentment and Jinhwan stared at him flatly, tapping his head. "I pamper you too much. Shouldn't I just send you off now?"

"Hey,  _hey_ , let's not go crazy," Hanbin said immediately, pulling back to look at Jinhwan with wide eyes. Jinhwan could barely hold a straight face. "I'll be good."

"You're never good."

"Wha- don't lie! I'm the goodest-"

"Best..."

"Yeah, see, you agree," Hanbin said brightly and Jinhwan scoffed, about to object until Hanbin pressed their lips together, hooking his leg around one of Jinhwan's as he pushed the elder back into the bed slightly and Jinhwan sighed against him, tugging Hanbin right into his chest and Hanbin smiled, pulling away only for Jinhwan to yank him back, kissing him one more time, soft lips and feelings making for soft touch and Hanbin fell flaccid in his arms.

"You're so evil, you know that?" Jinhwan whispered, looking down as one of his arms curled around Hanbin's neck, brushing the side of his face that held skin that was so smooth. "Beautifully evil."

"Tigers aren't the sweetest of creatures," Hanbin hummed, though he sounded shy for the first time that night and Jinhwan kissed his ear softly, watching its gentle twitch after while Hanbin curled a hand into his shirt, making sure Jinhwan would stay right there, right in this position. It made Jinhwan's heart skip a beat. "Let's sleep."

"That's all I've been wanting, idiot."

***

"Babyyyyyy," Jinhwan whined the instant he got home, dropping his bags to the floor and collapsing onto his big tiger laid out on the ground who growled questioningly, paws patting Jinhwan's shoulders. Jinhwan let out a puff of breath, relishing in the softness of the fur as he smushed his face into it before he raised his head, blinking. "Wait, have you eaten? Your stomach's doing something weird."

The tiger growled again, soft as he dropped his head back against the floor dramatically and Jinhwan rolled his eyes, rubbing Hanbin's sides out of fondness. "Come on, come on. Don't have any meat so can't you turn into human mode?"

Hanbin would always lecture him about calling his forms 'modes', saying "I am not a freaking  _game"_  and Jinhwan would only nod and let him rant since those kinds of rants were the cutest, and he'd just kiss him to cool him down if he got a little too heated. That usually happened when the topic started becoming more general, or if Hanbin had just eaten a lot of meat.

Tiger Hanbin seemed to let him off because apparently something else was wrong, according to the way his big sweet eyes turned sad, head slowly dropping back down again and Jinhwan's heart broke, rubbing the tiger's stomach this time. "You can't change?"

Hanbin's sad whine was answer enough and Jinhwan frowned, carefully taking hold of the paw that Hanbin was waving around mindlessly as if that made up for him not being able to talk. "Really? Is it painful? Maybe I should take you to the doctor, love." 

The tiger shook his head about and Jinhwan's eyes grew soft, patting down Hanbin's fur gently as he looked at Jinhwan again, soft yellow eyes sparkling as he made a face that said, 'but what's wrong with you?' and Jinhwan smiled gently, resting his head on Hanbin's chest.

"Just been a long day, that's all. How 'bout you? D'you get more sleep?"

The tiger growled and Jinhwan raised an eyebrow. "Don't lie to me."

He snarled harsher, raising his head to be all intimidating but Jinhwan shook his, wagging a finger. "Don't try that on me either. What have you been doing? If I need to explain to the local zoo why they've been getting screams of terror about a tiger escaping and running amok again- oh wait."

Hanbin howled sadly, shaking his head as Jinhwan scratched behind his ears, smiling softly when Hanbin licked his cheek. "It's okay, baby. I've got you."

It had been so long since they had first met that sometimes Jinhwan would forget how utterly crazy the story was.

Hot summer afternoon when wine tasted better than anything in the world. Half a day of work that had him sweating like a pig. Newly dyed hair that no one got surprised about anymore. All such normal things, it was such a normal day that it was borderline boring and Jinhwan never really looked at the news until he got home because he wasn't the type of person to keep their data on all day so that the stupid news app could interrupt his happiness- and it would be wasting money, of course.

Also the fact that it was so hot that his car engine had gone bust, something melted, maybe, he had no idea because he knew absolutely nothing about car mechanisms if that was even the right term but: he had to walk home. And he didn't like it one bit because yes, it was  _easy_  to do but  _God_ , it must take him about half an hour.

The streets were empty. Really empty. It was a bit unnerving, but Jinhwan kept his head down, hands in his pockets as he walked on. Kicked a few rocks while he was at it, why not. Gosh, he was  _sweltering_ , he brought up a hand just to fan himself and wonder why he saw a few people looking out their windows. He didn't have good enough eyesight to see their expressions but it was worrying him nonetheless, making him walk faster. It was broad daylight. What could be going on, and what could go  _wrong_? Jinhwan shook his head, shaking away all his worries. 

He turned into an alleyway, knowing it was the fastest way to get home, and it was a sweet little corridor with white stone walls, lots of buildings and plotted plants atop lower layers of levels where walls cut off, while the high ones remained too far to reach. It was the type of place that made you want to whistle a jaunty tune and doff your cap to a missus. Maybe Jinhwan shouldn't have drank that glass of wine.

He felt something. Maybe it was instinctual. It definitely wasn't that something touched him, but a wave of cold ran over him. He felt like he could see hints of flitting shadows all across the place, and he didn't know why his imagination was doing this to him.

He was still boiling, but he held his sweater tighter around him.

Jinhwan decided to pick up the pace.  _Keep walking and walking. Ignore unnerving shadows. Ignore slow footsteps, other people are allowed to walk along this one-billion-way path! Ignore soft snarling. Ignore sounds of soft bashing followed by tiny whines._

Jinhwan suddenly froze. Perhaps he wasn't supposed to ignore these things.

_Yeah, good idea, moron._

He looked around a wall, wondering what was going on when he saw nothing there. He wanted to peer around another one but he was honestly just thinking that the wine was doing something to him. There definitely  _wasn't_  something turning another corner, something big. There definitely  _wasn't_  a massive cat staring at him like he looked surprised. Oh no way, this was all just a hallucination. Perhaps Jinhwan was still sleeping! If Jinhwan followed the 'I'll believe it when I see it!' clause then pffft, tigers shouldn't even  _exist_. Definitely not beautiful ones right in open day in a fucking alleyw-  _wait, oh shit, NO-_

Jinhwan's foot fell back as the tiger lunged as tigers do but Jinhwan didn't want that when it was very clearly going to make him die and he didn't want his last thoughts to be about how elegant a tiger looked when pouncing forwards like a damn  _gazelle,_ and he didn't know why his vocal chords weren't working? Wasn't he supposed to be screaming right about now? Wasn't he- hey.

The tiger had just ran straight past him. 

Jinhwan spun around, absolutely amazed as he watched the tiger from behind, long tail swishing but then he realised just why he hadn't been as scared as he should have been. He must've sensed it, seen how the tiger was moving so slowly. One of his legs weren't working as fluidly as the others, and once the tiger slowed down, he immediately bashed into another wall that had him wailing gruffly but so softly, it was more than enough to break Jinhwan's heart. And he wasn't prepared to find himself ever feeling emotional towards one of nature's fiercest predators.

He walked forwards, the same direction as the tiger, and decided to go against all of his morals and opinions by turning on his mobile data and checking into the news app before it dared to notify him like the jerk it was. And he saw it.  _BREAKING NEWS,_  it said.  _And it literally is,_  it said. This was why news made Jinhwan so angry.

_A TIGER HAS BROKEN OUT OF SEOUL GRAND ZOO. 14:00. No-one is sure how this happened, especially since the tiger is confirmed to have a leg injury, and the staff are now being thoroughly questioned. EVERYONE is advised to stay indoors as the tiger is searched for._

How does this kind of thing even happen...

The tiger hadn't moved very far, and Jinhwan was closing distance as he kept walking - he could only assume that the tiger had lost energy by pouncing which just made Jinhwan feel bad even though he  _shouldn't_ , because that had made him fear for his life. But then the tiger seized up, about to turn around before he stopped halfway and bolted through a path going off the side. Jinhwan cursed out of surprise, inching closer and closer until he paused, wondering, why was he doing this? Wasn't it risking his life?

Maybe it was his soft spot for animals. Maybe Donghyuk saying 'honestly, there's no-one kinder than hyung. His kindness shines so bright' was actually true, and Jinhwan shouldn't have hit him after. But it wasn't true at all.  _I'm only worried. Let me just make sure it's okay. I don't think it'll try and kill me, not at this stage._

_Also, I'm kind of used to risking my life at this point. Forgot about that._

"Please...go away..."

Jinhwan froze. Weak voice, male, but sounded young. Injured, or homeless boy? This pathway was darker, closed off, and it took Jinhwan a while to see the figure with a hand against the wall, arm slung over his stomach as he peered at Jinhwan nervously. Eyes. Soft yellow eyes. Ears. Furry ears on  _top_  of his head, twitching incessantly. And Jinhwan, from all professionalism and everything he had learnt over his years as a human being, ignored these specialties. "Are you hurt?"

The boy winced, and his dark hair looked downy in parts and matted in others. Jinhwan just wanted to take him home and wash it for a  _long_  time, and  _nicely_. His face held smudge marks like a tiny motorbike had run over it, and he looked like a cute chimney-sweep. "Yes. Clearly."

"Damn, calm it...tiger."

The boy blanched and Jinhwan had to hold back his laugh because this wasn't the time. God, he was worse than the news and their stupid puns, wasn't he? "Wanna explain to me what's going on? I think I'll be able to help."

"It's weird. You won't believe me. You can't."

"It's hard to believe  _in_  you in general right now but I'm still doing it."

"Okay, then don't. Leave me alone."

"Do you really want that?"

"Yes."

"That's nice. It's not going to happen, though," Jinhwan said matter-of-factly as he walked up to the boy and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, making the other tense. Jinhwan smiled at him apologetically and the other's eyes widened even more. "My house is really really close so come on, tiger, your appearance is literally begging me to clean you up at this point."

The boy's eyebrows knitted together, looking down at himself, and Jinhwan's smile grew more light-hearted. "What's your name?"

"Hanbin," he mumbled as he scrutinised his clothes, tugging on his tattered hoodie before looking at Jinhwan expectantly as if to say 'is this that bad?' and Jinhwan only nodded, arm slipping to grip Hanbin's waist firmly as he ordered, "Arms around my shoulders."

"Don't order me around..." Hanbin grumbled in slight irritation but he still did it and then they were off, with Hanbin clutching onto Jinhwan tightly and trying to make his grunts of pain as quiet as possible.

"Sorry. I'm kind of used to it."

"Tigers don't likey."

"Aren't there more pet tigers than those in the wild?"

"Exactly. So imagine how that feels."

"You don't know the thoughts of every tiger."

"That's true, but I know the thoughts of me. I am not a full tiger but I think, it's difficult, being tamed. You feel like you've lost who you are," Hanbin said, sounding hollow as he looked ahead and his tiger eyes made it all the more sad as Jinhwan's eyebrows dipped a little out of concern, tugging Hanbin closer once they walked into his frontyard.

"Do you feel like you've lost who you are?"

Hanbin stared Jinhwan straight in the eye, and Jinhwan was suddenly reminded of the heat. "Not at all. How do you think I was able to run away?"

Hanbin didn't want to have a bath, saying that he didn't like bathing unless it was night time and Jinhwan just let that off and set up something else so he was sitting in a chair with a towel over his lap and a bowl on top, jugs of water and a much larger bowl on the floor beside him as well as shampoo while Hanbin sat on the floor, head in the bowl, loosely hugging his knees to his chest. Hanbin had been so curious that he hadn't even fought Jinhwan about it.

"Just stay calm," Jinhwan murmured as he poured the water into the bowl gently, running it through Hanbin's hair and he wanted to smile at the squeak he got in return. He ran his fingers through Hanbin's hair, dampening it and untangling the matted parts so he could get whatever was in there out. Hanbin closed his eyes, making a low soft growling noise from deep in his throat that sounded rhythmic and Jinhwan deduced that maybe he liked this feeling.

Jinhwan held Hanbin's head up as he quickly poured the dirty water into the bigger bowl and got some fresh. It was such a hassle but Hanbin looked so content that Jinhwan would feel bad about complaining.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"Why were you in a zoo if you're a hybrid?"

Instantly, Hanbin curled into himself a little and Jinhwan frowned, carding his hands through Hanbin's hair much softer, as if for reassurance rather than essentiality. And Jinhwan almost didn't catch the small, "They don't know."

Jinhwan blinked. "Didn't know what?"

"That I'm a hybrid. They never check, and I'm so scared around them that I physically can't change and show them."

Jinhwan was horrified. "You what? That's illegal. That's  _actually illegal-_ "

"Shhhh, keep doing hair," Hanbin hushed, reaching behind to pat Jinhwan's ankle and Jinhwan frowned deeply, massaging the shampoo through Hanbin's hair now and it made a sigh leave Hanbin's lips. The corners of Jinhwan's own turned up a little.

"You like that?"

Hanbin nodded, so Jinhwan kept going. He wondered what on earth he was doing. Being some caretaker to a hybrid, maybe just because Jinhwan thought he was pretty. Hopefully it wasn't only because of that. Hopefully Jinhwan would have helped any runaway non-murderous looking hybrid. Hanbin's cute face just didn't hurt.

It wasn't long before they were done and Jinhwan pulled Hanbin into his bedroom, tugging him into his lap as he ran a towel through his hair and tried not to blush, not that Hanbin would see it anyway. Maybe Jinhwan didn't need to be this touchy but Hanbin seemed to appreciate it a whole lot, until he saw the hairdryer and jumped in alarm, his back hitting Jinhwan's chest.

"What's wrong?" Jinhwan asked worriedly, looking to the side only to realise that Hanbin's eyes were trained on the hairdryer so he took hold of it, bringing it out of Hanbin's line of sight.

"Th-That looks like weapon," Hanbin muttered, and there was a sort of low rumble in his voice. It must be triggered whenever he saw something that could endanger him and Jinhwan quickly shook his head.

"It's not, I promise. Through this nozzle, it releases hot air, so your hair can dry quicker. You've never seen one before?"

Hanbin shook his head and Jinhwan smiled a little. "Let me use it on you, promise not to freak out too much."

"Promise..."

Jinhwan fiddled with the settings, putting it on high heat but low blow so it wouldn't be too loud but the instant he turned it on, Hanbin still growled instinctively at the noise the hairdryer emitted and Jinhwan held onto him tighter. " _Calm_  it, tiger, it's not gonna hurt you."

Hanbin whined in retreat, hanging his head and Jinhwan laughed a little as he gently moved the hairdryer over his head so the heat could run through his hair and slowly, Hanbin seemed to settle, leaning back into Jinhwan's chest voluntarily this time and it made a sweet feeling bloom inside him as he kept going, giggling whenever Hanbin would yelp if the hairdryer got too near his ears. Must be sensitive hearing, of course. 

Jinhwan got him the biggest clothes he could find which wasn't that much of a hassle since Jinhwan liked wearing baggy clothes when he was at home to be comfortable. He left the room seeing Hanbin staring at the clean clothes in wonder and honestly, Jinhwan's cheeks were starting to hurt from how much he had been smiling this past few hours. But his next order of business was to at least rest his weary body because he hadn't realised how tired he was, as well as a phone call. 

"Yep, you heard me right. Call off the search, make sure the nation knows there's no threat, but you stay at the zoo," Jinhwan said, absentmindedly doodling on a piece of paper to keep his hands busy. "I'll be handling it for now. No, dude, I'm not gonna- how old is he? No idea. Should I ask?...alright, geez! How do hybrid ages even work? See, you're useless too. Okay, okay..." Jinhwan froze when he heard soft rumbling and he slowly looked to the side, almost falling off his stool when he saw an elegant tiger right there, slowly making its way over to him and Jinhwan's heart was in his mouth. "Uh...alright. I'll be at the zoo soon to clear things up. Okay. No. Yes! Bye." 

Jinhwan seized up when the tiger got far too close to comfort, staring up at him with twinkling yellow eyes and Jinhwan stared back, holding his breath. But then all the tiger did was rub his head against Jinhwan's leg, eyes closing and Jinhwan almost fell over from how fast he let out a sigh of relief. He slowly climbed down from the stool, kneeling down to wrap his arms around the tiger's neck, seeing him look at him in confusion. Jinhwan only smiled, rubbing his fur. "You okay?" 

Hanbin nodded, nudging Jinhwan's face which Jinhwan ended up resting in his fur, hugging him almost. Then Jinhwan was yelping as the tiger pushed him back so he was lying down only to fall flat against him like a massive rug, humming contentedly. Jinhwan laughed through groans, feeling how heavy the tiger was but he didn't mind so much as he took the tiger's head in his hands, squishing slightly and Hanbin's eyes squinted again. "You big baby." 

Hanbin licked his cheek making Jinhwan whine in amused disgust and as his eyes were closed, he suddenly felt the weight on him getting a lot lighter. He immediately opened his eyes but gosh, the change had been fast, and then there was a wide-eyed humanoid beauty staring down at him. "O-Oh God, I didn't mean to-  _why_  did I-" 

Hanbin clambered off as quick as lightning, holding his arms up in surrender as Jinhwan slowly sat up, still confused as he rubbed his head and Hanbin firing apologies at him wasn't helping. "I have no idea why I changed forms tha-that just kinda  _happened_  and please don't report me for assault, I didn't mean-" 

"Do you not have control over your forms changing?" Jinhwan asked worriedly and Hanbin grimaced, looking away. 

"I don't know...I guess, not as much control as I should. I don't know." 

"Well, that's okay. I can try and help you with that, if you want me to keep you," Jinhwan said, without really thinking but even when the words came out of his mouth, they still sounded really right. And as Hanbin's eyes grew bigger, jaw dropping, Jinhwan just patted his arm. "Don't worry about that now. We gotta take a trip to your zoo so I can bash the staff's head in. Or at least one of them." 

Hanbin looked terrified, shaking his head. "N-No, they'll take me back-" 

"Don't you remember me saying it's illegal for them to keep a hybrid in the same environment with the same treatment as normal animals? You should be  _suing_  them, kid."

Hanbin blinked. "Sue..." 

"Hey, um...are hybrid ages the same as human ages?" 

Hanbin nodded, shuffling so he could hug a knee to his chest, his other leg stretched out in front of him. "You could look at it either way. But I can live longer than normal tigers, not as long as humans. Human years, I am, nineteen?" 

Jinhwan leant back on instinct. "Shit, you're young." 

"Why? How old are  _you_?" Hanbin asked defensively, crossing his arms and Jinhwan mirrored him, raising an eyebrow. 

"Twenty-four." 

Hanbin blinked. "Ah." 

"And you're only  _just_  legal. God. When were you taken?" 

"I don't know. I can't remember anything about time. It feels like I've been there forever. I hate it so much..." 

"I know," Jinhwan murmured, rubbing Hanbin's arm. "Let's go, love."

Jinhwan gave Hanbin a massive hoodie (which actually happened to be something that a one-night-stand left a few months back but Hanbin didn't need to know that) that could cover his ears as well as his tail though Hanbin seemed to really hate having that confined. Jinhwan tried to soothe him, and he only succeeded when he gave Hanbin some round-rimmed blue-tinted sunglasses that the hybrid immediately fell in love with, running around pulling heroic poses until Jinhwan ended up dragging him away. He still caught Hanbin winking at himself in a shop window. 

"Do you want anything while we're out?" Jinhwan asked, holding Hanbin close to him and the younger looked at him in surprise. 

"Oh, uh...I don't really know- know things. Like, what things, could I buy?" 

Jinhwan's eyes grew sad as he rested a hand on Hanbin's back; everything the hybrid was saying was making him feel worse and worse. "I'll show you another time. I'll absolutely spoil you, just you wait." 

"I've always wondered what coffee tastes like," Hanbin mumbled and Jinhwan grinned. 

"That'll be one of the first things, then." 

"And...um, something called black forest cake? Does it have actual trees in it?!" 

Jinhwan had to bite his lip to hold back a noise at the cuteness. "No, no, they don't. I think it came from a region that had a forest called the Black Forest. In Germany or Norway, I don't know." 

Hanbin's ears drooped a little and Jinhwan wanted to cry. "Ah...okay."  

They made it to the zoo soon enough, and police cars were already there. Hanbin seemed to shy into himself a bit and Jinhwan held onto him tighter, walking straight into the battlefield (yes, let's be dramatic) to the zookeeper who looked very animated with his hands while he talked to a police officer. "Excuse me, sir, would you be the manager, or head, whatever, of this place?" 

The zookeeper eye's widened as he nodded, and the other police officer backed up instantly when he saw Jinhwan. "Yes but sir, you can't just-" 

"It's okay, I'm...wait..." Jinhwan mumbled as he tried to fish out something that had to be in his pockets and when he let go of Hanbin to make it easier, Hanbin just held onto him again - but he got the badge out eventually and held it out, shaking his hair out of his face. "KNPA, I'm a police officer. And with me right now, this guy right here, is your tiger." 

The zookeeper guy blinked, looking at Hanbin who shyly waved before back at Jinhwan. "Sir, uh...that's a person." 

Jinhwan rolled his eyes, patting Hanbin's back. "Take off your hood, sweetie, and try to stare him straight in the eye." 

Hanbin did as he was told, looking down before jolting at the memory of Jinhwan's words and looking up again, right at the manager and Jinhwan looked at him too and had to do a double-take. Gosh, all of a sudden, Hanbin looked  _fierce_ , stark yellow eyes piercing into the other man who looked absolutely terrified. "O-Oh my-" 

"Do you see? He's a hybrid, idiot," Jinhwan seethed and the zookeeper looked at him in surprise. "You didn't think about checking? Have you not checked  _any_  of your animals about this? That's absolutely illegal and I should take your zoo to court, everyone knows that animals do  _not_  have the same treatment nor rights as hybrids do. I'm giving you one chance, and that's one week to check every one of your animals and deal  _correctly_  with those who are hybrids and let them go. Am I clear?" 

The zookeeper gulped. "I'm so sorry, sir, we haven't been-" 

"No, I don't want to hear your grovelling, just do what I say. And one more thing. I'm keeping this one." 

"Sir, you can't-" 

"Do you want me to arrest you here and now?" 

The zookeeper paled, taking a step back and Jinhwan nodded firmly, taking hold of Hanbin's hand before turning around to the police officer who had stepped back to make way for him. Jinhwan let out a sigh, smiling at him tiredly. "Donghyuk, nice to see you. Can I ask a favour?" 

Donghyuk nodded, grinning as he opened the back door. "Hop in." 

They were on the road in no time, Hanbin and Jinhwan bundled in the back while still holding hands, and Jinhwan was looking out of the window. But then Hanbin was inching closer, closer, before resting his chin on Jinhwan's shoulder and whispering, "You shouldn't have done that." 

Jinhwan blinked, about to turn his head before thinking that wouldn't be so clever. "Done what?" 

"Abuse your authority like that..." 

"Oh," Jinhwan realised, not letting the corners of his lips quirk like they wanted to. "I'm sorry. I really wanted to keep you, I've made you promises after all." 

Hanbin bit his lip, but that still didn't stop his smile. "Okay. I could forgive."  

The first thing Hanbin did when they got home was race to the bedroom, but the first thing Jinhwan did was retreat to his kitchen and call up Junhoe. The only other person he knew who had a hybrid. 

"Pick up, pick  _up,_ " Jinhwan muttered under his breath to himself, tapping his foot against the floor, and he wanted to melt in relief when he heard a bright, "Hello." 

"Well, don't you sound chipper?" 

To be honest, Junhoe had been sounding a  _lot_  happier ever since he got his hybrid for a Christmas present. It made Jinhwan feel so glad. 

"It's been a nice-ish day. What's up?" 

"Well, uh, you see...I have a hybrid too now. And I need some advice." 

"Woah, really?! Damn, hyung, well you had a dog once so you know how to take care of them when they're in that form, I mean, come on, I came to  _you_  for advice when I first-"

"No, Junhoe. He's not a dog hybrid." 

"Ooh," Junhoe said, voice piqued in curiosity. "What is he then? Bunny?" 

"Bigger." 

"Cat?" 

"Well...technically, yes." 

"Awe. Now I wanna see if him and Ji would get along or not." Then there was suddenly a loud shout of, "I HEARD MY NAME," before Junhoe was groaning, saying in pain, "Jiwon, get  _off-_ "

"JIN-WAAAAAAA-" 

"Hey, Jiwon," Jinhwan giggled, leaning back against the counter as Jiwon said an animated hi back, only to instantly gruel Junhoe with, "What are you saying about me?" 

"Not a thing, Ji-" 

"Liar! I wanna hear it!"  

"No, baby, go back to sleep, you haven't been getting enough." 

"Neither have you! You gotta come." 

"I gotta talk to Jinhwan-hyung." 

"OH YEAH, JIN-WAAAAAAAAAAAN-" 

"Hyung, just love him lots, keep him well-fed and do some research about hybrids and his animal alike, and don't buy them clothes. They think up their own clothes from a closet in the sky-" 

"It's the best closet ever!" 

"What he said, but I found out recently that you need to have some confidence in yourself to get nice enough clothes. Jiwon looks like a snack every day and he's got his self-love sorted one hundred percent. Or, ninety-eight percent, we're working on it." 

"It's true. Wait, why are we saying this? OH MY GOSH JIN-WAN DO YOU HAVE A HYBRI-" 

"Bye, hyung!" Junhoe said quickly before Jinhwan heard the ending tone and he shook his head, grinning like crazy. Though that thing that Junhoe had said about the self-confidence stuck with him when he remembered Hanbin's tattered hoodie from before, and he thought that maybe him and Hanbin should have a word. He set off to his bedroom, peeking inside only to be flabbergasted. Hanbin...Hanbin looked  _great_. He was wearing a light blue chiffon shirt tucked into black jeans, one leg stretched out and the other hitched up and they...were long legs. God. 

"What dinner party are  _you_  going to, huh?" Jinhwan asked, still slightly amazed as he made his way over and sat next to Hanbin who smiled at him. 

"It was time for a change of outfit. I'd been wearing the same outfit for years whenever I turned human and that was just comfortable but you made me realise how rancid it was. And this feels...really nice." 

Jinhwan nodded, awed. "You look beautiful."  

Hanbin grinned at his lap, turning a little pink. "Do I? Thank you." 

Well, no matter what the clothes said, Jinhwan still wanted to build up this kid's confidence until he replied to compliments like that with a breezy, "I know I do."  

"How's the leg?" 

"Hybrids heal fast." 

"That's great."

"So...what now?" Hanbin asked quietly and Jinhwan shrugged. It wasn't like he had any answer to that. 

"It's been a long day for both of us, let's just relax. And you've got to promise to not kill me when you're a tiger!"

"I would never kill  _anyone_  when I'm a tiger!"

"That's my boy." 

Hanbin smiled again, leaning forward to kiss Jinhwan innocently and Jinhwan's eyes blew wide. "Your boy." 

Then Hanbin was resting his head on Jinhwan's shoulder and closing his eyes, leaving Jinhwan unable to want to even say anything. Did Hanbin even really know what kisses  _meant_? Did he know how much it meant to  _Jinhwan_? Did he know what it was  _proposing_? 

_Am I going to date a cute nineteen-year-old tiger hybrid?_

"I'ssss okay..." Hanbin slurred sleepily, fuzzy moving ear brushing back and forth across Jinhwan's jaw. "I'm turning twenty soon..." 

 "When?" 

"October." 

Two months. Okay, not too bad. But still, a practically five years difference and even if that didn't matter, love for Jinhwan was  _not_  something he sought out. Yeah, it sounded nice, but was it realistic? Not at all. But then again neither was finding a tiger hybrid gone loose from a zoo who would end up living with him. 

Maybe they wouldn't even fall in love. Maybe they would just have those innocent kisses every now and then and the thought really made Jinhwan's heart warm, for a reason beyond him. Just that soft press of lips it had been, lingering and just staying there, doing nothing for a few seconds except for igniting sweetness before pulling back - Hanbin was the cutest thing in the world. 

 _We'll see,_  Jinhwan thought.  _We'll see._

He really couldn't predict the future well at all, for what ended up happening.

 

 

 

 

 

"So our local doctors or vets aren't qualified in hybrids and that's just utter shit," Jinhwan grumbled, slamming the phone down and waving Hanbin away when the guy tried to walk over to him, but Hanbin didn't let that stop him. "Get away, don't-" 

"It's alright, you know," Hanbin soothed, wrapping Jinhwan up into a back hug and Jinhwan immediately melted which he didn't want to  _do_ , for God's  _sake-_  "I'll be fine. It's probably just a phase." 

"You've been dipping in and out of this so-called 'phase' for so long now. Can't you let me just-" 

"I don't wanna see you get more upset," Hanbin mumbled, nuzzling Jinhwan's neck apologetically and Jinhwan sighed, resting his head against Hanbin's. 

"It's the essence of a hybrid, Hanbin, being able to change forms whenever they want. I can't let you be held back like this."

Hanbin was silent for a moment before he said, "I think it's a disorder." 

Jinhwan froze. "You...what?" 

"I was researching it a little earlier today. It's a disorder that comes only in hybrids, and it's like a traumatic thing. It's called metamorphic traumatic disorder, I think, and it's when you've been forced to stay in one form for so long that your changes become kind of...permanently rusty. And malfunctioning. I think that's it, that's, me, from when I was zoo and wild. I went years without turning human out of fear..." 

"Bin," Jinhwan whispered, turning around and Hanbin raised his head, smiling but it was weak.

"Glad we got that sorted out, huh? I'm sick and that's fine." 

"We can follow it up with a doctor. See if you can get treated?" 

"No known treatment, it said. The best thing it said to try was keep a steady routine in changing, when you're trying. But even, that, can't work with me, I get sporadic changes that I can't control, also."

"Let's try. I'm here every step of the way, you know that," Jinhwan said, reaching out for Hanbin's hand and the younger held on tightly, smiling more genuinely now and he was back to being Jinhwan's ray of sunshine. 

"I know. Come here." 

Jinhwan did, pushing himself up to lock their lips together and one of Hanbin's arms rested over his shoulders as he kissed back, and it was softer than usual and Jinhwan's heart was fluttering like it used to at the start of all this. He could imagine how Hanbin's eyes would glitter once they pulled away and he pressed up closer to taste some more, so he could save that for later. Hanbin's smile against his lips was also something he always wanted to savour.

"I swear to God, if you have a sporadic form change at a point when we're kissing, I'm gonna smack someone up." 

Hanbin laughed in surprise, shaking his head and Jinhwan grinned, pecking Hanbin's lips before seeing those sparkles in the boy's eyes all over again. Perfect. Jinhwan was glad he waited. 

"Hey, let's go out for dinner. I've got a craving." 

"Suits? Don't you  _dare_  think up the worst suit possible, I'll murder you."

Hanbin beamed, looking absolutely smitten. "I'll think up a normal suit with normal colours, just for you." 

"Calm it, tiger, you should be doing that in  _general_. You embarrass me." 

"You sound like the other tigers back in the zoo." 

"HANBIN-" 

**Author's Note:**

> DEDICATED TO MY LOVE 13CMKONIC BECAUSE I SUC K AND THIS IS LIKE A MONTH LATE 
> 
> i love you aura ;-; don't hatE ME, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DIDN'T YOU SAY YOU WANTED APRIL TO BE YOUR BIRTH MONTH SO LET'S DO THAT-


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